Irene !hoaës
28 August 2008
Windhoek — The Hardap Region plans to construct processing plants for raw vegetables, dairy products, maize and wheat produced in the region in order to add value to their produce.
The envisaged plans will require that farmers, producers or cooperatives store their produce, thus a regional warehouse and cold storage facilities are needed.
Private commercial farmers mostly practising horticulture and farming with small stock own 75 percent of the area in the region. The Hardap Region's greatest potential lies in agriculture, such as small stock and game farming and small-scale industry.
Fifteen percent of the area is part of the Namib-Naukluft Park and the central-southern 10 percent is communal farmland.
Smaller parcels of land owned by the Government include 10 resettlement farms, two government agricultural areas and a protected area at Hardap Dam.
These are some of the region's priorities in their submission to the National Development Plan, after the participatory poverty assessment was done.
Namibia has carried out a participatory poverty assessment in all the 13 regions of the country, as part of its poverty reduction action programme as well as to deepen its understanding of poverty and address it.
The region also says that the Hardap Dam is currently underutilised, noting that the source can be developed through the more regular harvesting of the fish in the dam and also commercial fish farming at the dam.
The Hardap Dam is the biggest catchment dam in the country.
Plans are also underway to give urgent attention to the illegal harvesting of hoodia, devil's claw, firewood and existing wildlife, as these products are in high demand and are in danger of over-exploitation.
In education, the region sees a need for training and equipment in the information technology field, such as training teachers in this field, which is essential for the development of a skilled workforce.
One of the existing vocational training centres at Keichanachab needs upgrading and training programmes to suit the specific requirements of the community also need to be introduced.
Infrastructural development in the region is set to look at developing the airport at Mariental that needs upgrading, including the reconstruction of runways and provision for ablution facilities.
The infrastructure of Hardap is reasonably well developed but upgrading of certain gravel roads in rural areas is still needed.
The development of community-based tourism and natural resource management is also high on the agenda.
On the health front, the region wants to reduce the incidences of HIV/Aids and offer better facilities in the distribution of anti-retrovirals (ARVs) as well as developing tools and training for home-based carers.
A need has been identified for a more multi-sectoral approach, although a number of organisations is involved, especially as ARV roll-out has not yet occurred in rural areas.
The incidence of HIV/Aids affects the productive age group in the region and has a negative impact on the economy.
HIV/Aids prevalence of pregnant women stands at 14.9 percent.
The Hardap Region is home to 3.7 percent of the country's population.
Households with safe water access is 94.6 percent, flush toilets 55.7 percent, health facilities within 10 km is 79 percent.
Hardap is among one of the most literate regions with a literacy rate of 83 percent among ages 15 and above.
The main sources of income include farming with 8.5 percent, old age pensions 15.2 percent, wages and salaries 61.4 percent, business, non-farming 4.8 percent, cash remittance 6.7 percent and other sources 3.4 percent.
Forty-four percent of the region's inhabitants are unemployed.
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